THE Conservative Party has spent much of the election campaign talking up its economic record and blaming the opposition Labour Party for the last recession. David Cameron, the prime minister, claims to have “rescued” the economy and “put Britain back on her feet”. So it seemed a trifle unfortunate that, on April 28th, the Office for National Statistics reported that economic growth had slowed sharply.
The economy grew by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2015, according to a preliminary estimate. If accurate, that would be the slowest rate of growth since 2012, and the fourth consecutive quarter in which expansion has slowed. The figures cast light only on the economy’s supply side—what Britons produce at work, rather than what they spend in the shops—and from that angle, the slowdown was greatest in the City. Bankers, lawyers and consultants (labelled “business services and finance” by the …<div class="og_rss_groups"></div>